Brisket

Brisket for Everyone!!!!

Good Day Friends!  Today we make Brisket!  I've been making this for a daytime, anytime, grab and go, easy to warm up for at least the last 6 months there is NEVER no brisket in the fridge.  Need a sandwich Dennis, there's brisket....Heather shows up hungry, there's brisket, Levi wants some MEAT MEAT, I make him some brisket.  It's so simple, anyone can do this.  What do you need:

Ingredients:

3-4-5-6-7 pound Brisket from a good meat supplier. Aim for grass fed, no antibiotic, no growth hormones.

Seasoning

Beef Broth (I make mine, you can purchase if you must, or you can use water)

THAT'S IT!

I seasoned it with Salt, Pepper, Onion and Garlic Powders

Pop it in the over that has been preheated to 350 degrees for 1 full hour...just seasoned, uncovered, just how it's pictured.

This is when I defrost my frozen beef broth. Yeah I freeze it, cause I use a lot, I make a lot, I dont want it in the fridge taking up space.   I defrost it slowly over the hour time the brisket is cooking by warming it slowly in a sauce pan filled with water.

It's defrosted now and the hour is up, pull the roast out and turn your over to 250 degrees.

Add that Beef bone broth in and cover with foil, return it to the oven and set the timer for 7 hours for a 4 to 5 pound and 8 to 9 hours for a 6 to 7 pound brisket. 

Let it cook

After it's done smelling up your house all day, making you have dreams about Brisket, it's time to give her a gander.  Using two forks see if it pulls apart easily.  If it doesn't just fall apart, recover and back in the over it goes, checking every 30 minutes until it falls apart, and I mean easily!  

Ahhhhh sweet success!  Looks delicious!  So now you go to town and get to shredding, I prefer a chunk a chunk method where I pull apart sections and that is about a serving for Levi and I.  Take your chosen pieces and put into the storage container of your liking.  I always use glass with a lid.  These are 7 cup Pyrex glass storage.  One is full the other is about half full.  See that pan below there with all the fat and liquid....this is what makes the re-heating PERFECT.  YOU MUST SAVE THIS! 

Hey look Ready for storage!

Strain out all the yuckies from the bone broth into a cup using a ladle and fine mesh sieve. 

Here is what the uglies look like, strain all the yuck out, leaving you with the goodness of broth.

Pour it into glass jars and save for future use.  When it's time to reheat your brisket, you will use this liquid in a pan on the top of the stove.  Use enough, don't be shy for a full serving I use about 1/4 cup maybe a little more.  This keeps the brisket moist and steams it back to life after being shoved in a bowl in the fridge.

After you refrigerate your broth it will form a thick fat layer on the top, I use a knife the first time and cut an X in it, push one fat piece down into the mixture so the gelatin like liquid comes out, it's thick, it's suppose to be, it's got a lot of great nutrients in it that help your gut lining, so don't be scared of it, IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!  Take the fat and throw it out, leave it in there, mix it in, use it if you want, don't if you don't, not all at once obviously.  It's the best kind of fat for you believe it or not.  I eat it daily and I'm in a healing phase of my disease, which is why I must eat so clean and like this!   So there it is!  Brisket!

This is some brisket on a plate with an egg, my go to breakfast if I'm needed protein right off the bat.  Oh one more thing, FEEL FREE to add some BBQ sauce to it after you've reheated it in your pan with the broth, I add in some homemade or gluten free BBQ sauce cause that's how I like it! Enjoy!

Typical Breakfast before I knew I also couldn't eat eggs.  

Typical Lunch, Brisket with avocado salsa on a gluten free tortilla made from Teff.  

Sloppy joes

So Sloppy, So Yummy, So Bad, but it's not out of a can!

Sloppy Joe's on an Udi's Gluten Free Hamburger Bun

Ingredients:

1- 1.5 lbs Ground Beef

1 finely chopped Onion

1 can Tomato Sauce

1/3 cup Ketchup

2 tablespoons Mustard

1 tablespoon Chili Powder

1 teaspoon Sage

 1/4 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon Salt

Corn Starch as a thickener if needed I didn't use it.

Here are the ingredients, ohhhhhhh pretty!

Brown the beef over medium heat with the onions

like so, then add all the stuff in

and mix, and you get this!  Cook it till it's the thickness you like on low heat.  I let it simmer down for about 20 minutes and it was stout and tasted great!

Spoon it on a bun, throw some cheese on it if you eat dairy, or onions and pickles, I was out of pickles so I just did onion instead for the extra crunch.  If you are super paleo, then take the meat and wrap it in lettuce instead!  And you have a paleo sloppy joe.  I am eating pretty clean, but I allow a bun once a week for a burger or in this case a sloppy joe.  Grains are a very small part of my main diet.  But allowances are good once in a while as long as it's gluten free.

Enjoy!

Outside cabinet

After much thought and consideration, we decided to build a cabinet instead of buying something in plastic or having to spend over $8,000 on a stone unit with stainless steel doors.  This was much more in our price range.  So Dennis went off and got the wood we needed.  We got a laminate countertop, yeah we know it's not going to hold up well to weather.  We have a few things in place to help with that, and we are hoping that next year we can replace the top with granite.  

Here are some of the beginning shots the outside framing

More of the same. 

A wider look at where it goes in the oasis, yep, I'm calling my back yard the oasis.  It's got a name now!

We stored the top on top but didn't attach it til later, but here is the basic set up, left side is for Entertainment, three shelved spaces and on the right is where the fridge goes.

Another shot

More work on it

And more work

it was cold out when the doors were being built

and handles installed

I thought we were done, but oh wait!!!

He decided to stain and seal, not just seal.

That night after staining it.

the morning after staining

A wide shot so you can see it with everything else.  Now there is a fence over there, I'm still contemplating weather or not I want to stain or paint white.  Not sure now!  Loving the look of the stained wood!

The next evening with the sun at the west. Doing the final install and screwing the top down.

The backyard Oasis is coming together!!!

It's as easy as almond milk

Almond Milk...never buy store bought again!  No need to when it's this easy.

Ingredients:

1 C. Almonds

4 to 7 Cups Water

Vanilla (Optional)

Honey (Optional)

Equipment required:

Blender

Fine Mesh Strainer

Measuring Cup

Jars for storage

Nut Bag or Cheese Cloth

Almond milk is pretty simple to make but it does take a hot minute to accomplish. First thing is start with is 1 cup of organic high quality almonds. 

Soak your almonds in clean water for a full 24 hours, changing the water every 6-8 hours.  

After you soak them, then you simple take the one cup of almonds and add 4 cups of fresh clean water to the blender and let it do its thing.  The longer the better, and I actually don't add all 4 cups at the same time, I add about 2 1/2 cups and get the almonds chopped up and then add more water as it's blending.  After about 3 minutes on medium I start to strain out some almond milk through a small fine strainer.

I just strain it over a cup that my strainer fits in.  I use a spatula to get most of the moisture out of the almond pulp and then put the pulp in a bowl where I store it for round two in the blender. 

Then I transfer it to a big jar.

 

If you like it super strong then only use the 4 cup ratio, I think I can get way more then 4 cups out of these almonds, so I get another 3 cups of water and throw all the almonds BACK into the blender, add the water and let it go again, this time for even longer, 5 minutes or so.  I strain again, mix the two jars together to get a more even flavor from them both and I get 2 full big jars worth from 1 cup of almonds.  These last about 4-5 days in the fridge.  Mine never lasts that long, so I'm not really sure on the time table but I've read it will keep for 5 days.  

    I use Cheese Cloth to get all the moisture from the almond pulp and I save the almond pulp lay it out on a cookie sheet and let it dry out.  That my friends is first class almond meal that can be thrown into the food processor and made into almond flour which is HIGH DOLLAR, so keep that pulp, sell it, trade it or give it to your girlfriend who bakes if you don't. 

Now, to sweeten it's simple, add honey, about a tablespoon per jar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla to each jar and shake till the honey is dissolved into the milk.

Homemade Almond Milk

In door start up pictures

A look at my indoor garden, before it goes outside.  I was very skeptical to start anything indoors with our current drought situation but you know what, I can do a few herbs and one of two choice items to put my energy into and then just pray for rain and see what happens.  If it grows, great.  If not, OH WELL.  Not much I can do, but try.

Here is the Thyme

And the Dill

The Broccoli is looking FANTASTIC!

A look at the Sage!

Here is the whole set up, pretty simple, I have a light, big enough for 4 trays under.

Yes it's not level, cause the dill is taller, lol, had to raise up one side :)  I have a fan pointed at the table moving air. 

My squash has flowers on it already.